Primary Bank, which celebrated its grand opening Friday as the first new New Hampshire bank in seven years, expects to build three additional branches and reach at least $300 million in assets in the...

Substantial snowfall forecast, with NH coast hit hardest

The first significant snowstorm of the season is expected to arrive this weekend, bringing several inches of light and fluffy snow to New Hampshire.

Forecasters are calling for a coastal storm to develop off the Mid-Atlantic and then move north toward New England.

With temperatures expected to remain well below freezing, the storm will likely remain all snow throughout the state, said Michael Cempa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.

Cempa said it’s too early to give snowfall estimates. A track farther away from the coast will mean less snow, one closer will bring a little more.

The jackpot for snow amounts is expected to be on the Seacoast.

“There are some differences in how the models are handling it, but it looks like a pretty good possibility we’ll get several inches of snow and perhaps higher,” he said.

The storm will move in by late Saturday afternoon and continue into midday or early afternoon Sunday, Cempa said. Lows on Sunday will likely fall to the single digits in northern New Hampshire to about 15 degrees on the coast.

“It won’t get much above 20 to 25 degrees on Sunday,” Cempa said. “It will be cold during the storm, and because it’s going to be so cold it’ll be light and fluffy, which is easier to move around.”

Workers at the Exeter Department of Public Works spent Thursday putting plows on the fleet of trucks that will be sent out to tackle the first big storm this season.

A chilly breeze blew across the DPW yard as the crews worked outside to install a wing plow on the town’s newest plow truck, but heavy equipment operator Joshua Hamel didn’t mind.

“It sure beats doing it when it’s actually snowing. It’s nice doing it in the sun,” he said.